When betrayal turns into abandonment

Few are braver than those willing to risk their lives for their country.

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poconorecord.com

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Posted Dec. 2, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Posted Dec. 2, 2012 at 12:01 AM

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Few are braver than those willing to risk their lives for their country.

And when they do, we

incur a debt to honor them to their grave.

This is a story of state-sanctioned dishonor and of how our government nearly deserted veterans in their

final moments.

This is what happened:

A northwestern Pennsylvania man who fought on behalf of his country died a few weeks ago.

The 91-year-old World War II combat veteran served in the U.S. Army between 1943 and 1945.

He fought in Normandy, where the Allied forces made their final, desperate push to defeat the German army. He battled in central Europe, Belgium and Africa.

By the time he turned 24, this private first class had been awarded five Bronze Stars.

He was to be interred in Warren, not far from Erie.

That was nearly his undoing.

When he died, the funeral director learned the vet wouldn't get a military funeral.

Why?

Because his burial was beyond a 100-mile radius of the nearest state National Reserve base that supplies honor guards for military funerals.

The problem began on the federal level.

The Department of

Defense funds the Military Funeral Honors Programs to the Army.

The Army funds the National Guard, which, in turn, distributes the funds to states with the honor guard program, which in Pennsylvania falls to the National Guard.

But for the year beginning in October, Pennsylvania's guard funding was cut 30 percent, according to a letter written by Maj. Gen. Wesley Craig of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veteran Affairs.

To cut costs, the state's National Guard said it couldn't afford to travel to funerals more than 100 miles away.

That included Warren.

"The family said a military funeral was important to them. They didn't have to sell me on it," said Funeral Director Michael Lewis of the Donald E. Lewis Funeral Home in Warren.

Federal law entitles eligible veterans to an honor guard, according to the Fort Indiantown Gap, Warrior Training Grounds, which provides the service.

State Sens. Lisa Baker and Joe Scarnati, whose district includes Warren, wrote to Craig, shocked by the arbitrary 100-mile radius limitation.

"The cost of providing this important service for our deceased veterans pales in comparison to the commitment and sacrifice they have given our country," they wrote.

The program, Craig replied, had been reinstated through additional funding on Nov. 6.

Yet Craig never said it was reinstated out of a legal or moral obligation.

What hypocrisy.

We send our boys and girls to be murdered, yet we refuse to acknowledge their sacrifice because they are geographically undesirable?

It's worse than a betrayal. It's abandonment.

It's also a shameful case of misplaced priorities, as we spend money wastefully while ignoring those who have served.

We can't find a few bucks to honor these heroes? We can start by eliminating courtesy flights for VIPs and military groupies with honorary emissary titles. The cost of each of those flights could probably fund a hundred honor guards.

The Warren veteran ultimately received a military funeral.

His family watched as an honor guard performed the customary 21-gun salute and were presented with the flag that draped his casket.

You'd think the Pennsylvania National Guard would have reflected on and learned from its mistake.

Yet in a Nov. 26 letter to Baker and Scarnati, Craig warned that future budget cuts would probably mean a reduction in the number of funeral services he would be able to support from his service area in Annville.

Honor is among our military's greatest values. Yet there was no honor in